The Girl Who Wanders
by Inazuma Shoni
Summary: "She wasn't going anywhere in particular, she just moved forward, not staying anywhere long enough to grow attached to anything, but if you're with a group of people who are going in the same direction, and have the same destination in mind, it's okay, right?" Zoro/Oc ZoroxOc


Thinking back on it now, there wasn't a time when Ryder wasn't wandering, she didn't know what else to do, she couldn't remember anything, so she thought, maybe, If she wandered long enough that maybe she would find someone who knew who she was, or who she'd lost, maybe even what she was looking for.

She wasn't going anywhere in particular, she just moved forward, not staying anywhere long enough to grow attached to anything, but if you're with a group of people who are going in the same direction, and have the same destination in mind, it's okay, right?

She was currently on a large desert island called Rune-Dust it was mostly abandoned with a few hovels they called towns along the shores, and one large city in the center next to an oasis, only a few rest stops along the way. That was her destination.

She wasn't good in extreme heat, sometimes she was worried that she would just evaporate, but still she pressed on. She wore the native clothes to keep from standing out, because if there was one thing she hated it was drawing unneeded attention to herself. She wore a gold dancer top with a gold sash and white silk bottoms, a transparent gold scarf that was wrapped around her neck and went over her head, golden genie style shoes on her feet, her strawberry blond hair tied into a high ponytail, the outfit was surprisingly comfortable, and made it so the heat wasn't necessarily unbearable.

Still, she pressed on, it was mid-day, the sun high in the sky as the buzzards circled above her, the first rest stop of many was in the distance, and she grew thirsty just looking at it, for at each rest stop there was supposed to be a well that connected to an underground oasis.

She was close now, only a few dozen yards away, the temperature had dropped considerably since the sun set, but she could make out tents stationed around the well, a small fire had been built, and she could see nothing but the silhouettes of people gathered around it.

Ryder sighed, she wasn't exactly a people person, and since she was absolutely exhausted she could see no other option then spending the night at the rest stop, she would have to bear with it, she would do anything for the right price, so this inner city better be pretty eventful, or she had come this far for nothing.

* * *

The Strawhats were on their way to the inner city of Rune-Dust, they sat around a fire as the sky darkened, reminiscing in the cool moonlight, until a gust of wind alerted Chopper that someone was coming, it wasn't long before his ears could pick of the patting of soft footsteps in the sand behind one of the tents.

Zoro instantly drew his sword and brought it down on the source of the sound, chopping the tent down along with it, but when the tent fell all they saw was a girl, the scarf that must have been wrapped around her head at one point was split in half as it drifted to the ground, her ponytail snapped, causing her golden, strawberry-blond locks to cascade down her shoulders, how she had survived the attack unscathed was a mystery, but boy were the Strawhats relieved that she did.

Although afterwards Sanji was quick to scold Zoro by bringing his foot down on the green haired man's head then running off to comfort the golden skinned beauty from such a traumatic experience.

* * *

Ryder crept slowly around one of the tents, she would sneak over to the well, get some water, then lay a mat down and sleep on the ground, that was the only logical thing she could think of. But she was brought out of her thoughts when she felt a sword passing through her body, it would have cut up all her clothes had she not moved when she did, her scarf slowly drifted to the ground, now sliced in two, her hairband must also have been cut, for her hair came undone and fell neatly around her shoulders.

When the tent collapsed she was met by the curious looks of the group around the fire, and the murderous – yet slightly confused – look from a green haired man wielding a single sword of the three strapped to his waist. Though in a flash the man was on the ground, a large welt on his head, as a blond heart-eyed man ran over to her blabbering some in-audible nonsense about a traumatic encounter with moss-head, which she could only assume was his nick-name for the unconscious green haired man, who quickly jumped up and shouted a string of profanities at the blond, who snapped out of his perverted act long enough to turn and shout back before once again returning to the way he was before.

Ryder didn't exactly know what it was she had just gotten herself into, but she knew that her life would never be the same again.


End file.
